Panthera leo

Despite the sizeable trade of Lions in South Africa, trophy hunting and trade is a negligible threat as utilization appears to be sustainable and wild populations are either stable or increasing. No hunting is allowed in national or provincial parks, which collectively represent > 75% of the total wild Lion population. Furthermore, less than 5% of trophy hunts are sourced from wild populations (Miller et al. 2016). 

For example, Lindsey et al. (2012) reported that the South African hunting operators estimated the proportion of wild Lions hunted annually to be only 0.9 and 1.1% of the totals for 2009 and 2010 respectively. The majority of trophy hunting is performed on private wildlife ranches (53%) or on properties with captive-breeding facilities (42%), where there are at least 6,000 Lions kept in captivity in at least 149 facilities across South Africa (Williams et al. 2015). Although this population does not contribute to the wild population under assessment, it may act as a buffer to the wild population (Lindsey et al. 2012), as well as contributing to the South African economy. Besides trophies, CITES permits have been issued to export large numbers of live Lions across the world, as well as skeletons and bones to east-southeast Asia. From 1992 to 2012, CITES permits to export almost 1,400 live Lions (predominantly captive origin from the North West Province) were issued, 16% of these were destined for southeast Asia (mostly Thailand), and reached a peak of > 280 Lions in 2010 (Williams et al. 2015).

Lion bones are a sustainable by-product of the trophy industry and there was no evidence that any of these skeletons were obtained from wild Lions (Williams et al. 2015). However, the longer-term sustainability of this practice is questionable, particularly if Asian consumers begin demanding wild rather than farmed or captive-bred products as consumer surveys indicate they prefer (Gratwicke et al. 2008). Although there are no specific figures on illegal trade of Lions in South Africa, provincial conservation authorities indicate that illegal use or trade in Lion body parts and products is generally limited to negligible or non-existent. However, this species should be flagged as a potential sensitive species if the lion bone trade becomes more prominent in South Africa. 

Lions are also used for traditional medicine and various trade studies conducted in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal urban traditional medicine markets have documented their body parts (usually bones and ‘fat’) for sale, but the quantities are small and the incidences sporadic (Whiting et al. 2011; Williams et al. 2015).

Overall, while the trade in Lion bones to east– southeast Asia has been cited as a potential threat in South Africa, evidence suggests that the trade is not adversely impacting wild Lion subpopulations in South Africa because the skeletons are almost all a by-product of the sizeable trophy hunting industry, and Lions that are hunted in South Africa are almost exclusively captive-bred (Williams et al. 2015).

Gratwicke B, Mills J, Dutton A, Gabriel G, Long B, Seidensticker J, Wright B, You W, Zhang L. 2008. Attitudes toward consumption and conservation of tigers in China. PLoS One 3:e2544.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002544

Lindsey P, Alexander R, Balme G, Midlane N, Craig J. 2012. Possible Relationships between the South African Captive-Bred Lion Hunting Industry and the Hunting and Conservation of Lions Elsewhere in Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 42(1):11–22

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3957/056.042.0103

Miller S, Riggio J, Funston P, Power RJ, Williams V, Child MF. 2016. A conservation assessment of Panthera leo. In Child MF, Roxburgh L, Do Linh San E, Raimondo D, Davies-Mostert HT, editors. The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. South African National Biodiversity Institute and Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa.

https://www.ewt.org.za/Reddata/pdf/Carnivora(5)/2016%20Mammal%20Red%20List_Panthera%20leo_LC.pdf

Whiting MJ, Williams VL, Hibbitts TJ. 2011. Animals traded for traditional medicine at the Faraday market in South Africa: species diversity and conservation implications. Journal of Zoology 284:84–96.

Williams VL, Newton DJ, Loveridge AJ, Macdonald DW. 2015. Bones of contention: an assessment of the South African trade in African Lion Panthera leo bones and other body parts. TRAFFIC, Cambridge, UK & WildCRU, Oxford, UK.

https://www.wildcru.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Bones_of_contention.pdf